Tasty pea and bean food products: An integrated approach of plant breeding, raw material processing and food product development

An increased cultivation of legumes in Sweden will increase our self-sufficiency of plant-based protein and contribute to a more sustainable food production system.

The innovation potential in the development of new healthy nutritious and tasty food products based on domestically produced legumes is high.

However, to make use of that potential requires the availability of suitable and high-yielding plant varieties, proper raw material processing methods and knowledge to develop food products that are attractive to the consumers.The purpose of this project is to take an integrated approach of factors along the food value chain that affects the sensory experience of nutritious food products based on pea and faba bean cultivated in Sweden.

We aim to explore the use of sensory profiling as the central tool in this work, from plant breeding and variety selection, processing of raw material into flour, to the development of food products and to the consumer.

Our transdisciplinary project will brings together the expertise and results from four different ongoing research and innovation projects along the food value chain of Swedish legumes.

The project has a potential to lead to new healthy and tasty food products, increased understanding of which factors along the food value chain determine the consumers’ sensory experience, and definition of target traits for the plant breeders to develop tasty and healthy faba bean and pea varieties suitable for Swedish conditions.